What My Grandmother Gave Me

Mary Eva Estes, 1900-1986

In the weeks before my Grandmother died, she lay in bed mostly paralyzed from a stroke. Less than a month before, she still raked the leaves and fed the chickens. This last time I saw her, she was dozing between worlds, at ease with the restful peace of this time. I reached out to touch her and she opened her eyes wide as pumpkins. She took my hand in both of hers, and...

...with clear speech, undefiled by the stroke, she began to say my name out loud three times. She said, “Tarron Janiece Estes….Tarron Janiece Estes…Tarron Janiece Estes”. The warm pocket of her hand was still holding mine. Like the memory of a common language, I said back to her, “Mary Eva Estes…Mary Eva Estes…Mary Eva Estes”.

Within that ancient, timeless ancestral portal, I felt the meaning and wisdom of her whole life shoot like a star through my heart giving me back everything we ever shared, learned, and loved together. I knew in that moment our sacred purpose as souls, larger than grandmother and granddaughter. She imparted a lesson in living and dying. She gave me my purpose in serving other at end of life.Tarron Estes, Founder Conscious Dying Institute